UTR Therapeutics Inc. has submitted an IND application to the FDA for UTRxM1-18, a novel therapeutic approach for targeting c-MYC-driven cancers. Pending approval, a first-in-human phase I trial is slated to begin next year.

The recent 510(k) clearance by the U.S. FDA for a core part of Precision Neuroscience Corp. brain-computer interface technology is certainly a boon for the company, and others developing the devices. For the millions of people suffering from health disorders, such as motor neuron disease, spinal cord injury or severe stroke, its sign that a solution which could transform their lives could be just a few years away.

The U.S. FDA in 2018 granted the de novo petition by Seattle-based Adaptive Biotechnologies Corp. for the company’s DNA test for evaluation of residual hematological malignancies, but waited until March 8, 2025, to post notice of the attendant regulation.

Ongoing policy issues in the U.S., including the Inflation Reduction Act and recent proposals under President Donald Trump’s administration, have wide ranging implications for the global biopharmaceutical industry, speakers at Bio Korea 2025 said May 8, including a heightened need for all biotechs to draft regulatory strategies.

Legislators in Washington again are considering a pair of bills that would affect how patents are obtained and sustained including the Patent Eligibility Restoration Act of 2025. This would constitute a big win for companies in the life sciences thanks to provisions that clarify just what is and is not eligible for patent protection.

In a throwback to the Obama administration, U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order pausing federally funded research using infectious pathogens and toxins that may pose a danger until a safer, more enforceable and transparent policy governing such research can be developed and implemented.

South Korean government and biopharmaceutical industry representatives urged American policymakers May 7 to refrain from imposing tariffs on pharmaceutical imports, and to spare allies if pharma tariffs are deemed necessary. Both Korea’s Ministry of Health and Welfare on May 4 and the Korea Biotechnology Industry Organization on May 6 submitted comments to the U.S. Department of Commerce in response to its ongoing investigation of pharmaceutical imports.

The appointment May 6 of Vinay Prasad as the head of the U.S. FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research (CBER) “bodes poorly” for Sarepta Therapeutics Inc.’s development-stage pipeline, said Wainwright analyst Mitchell Kapoor – and Wall Street reflected as much, as the stock (NASDAQ:SRPT) ended that day down 26.6% vs. an XBI drop of 6.6% – this ahead of the after-hours earnings disclosure that pushed the Cambridge, Mass.-based firm down even farther by more than another 20%, with the XBI unchanged.

The U.K. National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) opened a late-stage assessment for drug-eluting stents (DES) with an eye toward costs, advising clinicians that they should implant the least expensive DES unit that is clinically appropriate for that patient while the assessment is underway.